Bay Bridge Lights Up, Treasure Island Left in the Dark - What Gives, SF?

In the City by the Bay, the glaring contrast between aesthetic brilliance and basic utility couldn't be more stark. San Francisco, known for its innovative spirit, is gearing up to light the Bay Bridge with a mesmerizing $11 million display, showcasing 50,000 LEDs—a twinkling tribute to the city's love for high-tech spectacle. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/02/us/bay-bridge-lights.html

Meanwhile, just a stone's throw away, Treasure Island is mired in a less glamorous reality, grappling with its 500 power outage since 1997.

Yes, you heard right. While the city dazzles tourists and residents alike with its illuminated marvels, Treasure Island suffers blackout after blackout—an average of one every 2-3 weeks, making its residents experts in navigating their own homes by touch.

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors seemed to take a step in the right direction back in 2017, approving a $1.66 million emergency replace two failing generators on Treasure Island, aimed at bolstering the beleaguered power grid. The resolution, promisingly named R0307-17, hinted at a brighter, more reliable future. But fast forward to the present day, and the island's reality remains dimly lit, both literally and metaphorically.

While $11 million pour into making the Bay Bridge a nighttime enchantment, Treasure Island residents are left wondering why their plight seems less worthy of investment. In a recent escalation, Mayor London N. Breed and other city officials have ramped up their rhetoric against Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) for their role in citywide outages, as highlighted in a stern letter available for perusal on the city's official website. Yet, it's ironic—or perhaps just plain negligent—that the city itself manages Treasure Island’s grid, which has been a notorious weak link for over a quarter of a century.

The city's sudden urgency addressing a single weekend of PG&E-caused disruptions starkly contrasts with the decades-long saga endured by Treasure Islanders. This selective attention is akin to furiously pointing out a neighbor’s slightly overgrown lawn while your own house is engulfed in flames.

This tale of two utilities lays bare a disheartening disparity. On one hand, PG&E is scrutinized and lambasted for fleeting failures; on the other, the city’s own mismanagement of Treasure Island’s grid—an enduring saga of neglect—is met with what can only be described as a shrug of municipal indifference.

What we witness here is a vivid display of priorities, where a bridge's aesthetic overhaul is deemed more crucial than the basic wellbeing of a community repeatedly left in the dark. It begs the question: What is the real standard of care and commitment by our city leaders? Why does the sparkle of LEDs on a bridge overshadow the necessity of keeping the lights on for its citizens?

In conclusion, while San Francisco’s Bay Bridge prepares to shimmer anew in a grand display of luminous excess, the residents of Treasure Island remain ensnared in a recurring nightmare of darkness. It's high time the city shifts some of its innovative zeal from aesthetic showcases to ensuring that all its communities can enjoy the basic, essential service of reliable power. San Francisco, let’s not just be a beacon of innovation in public spectacles; let’s illuminate our commitment to all residents by keeping their lights on.

ONGOING RESOLUTION REGARDING EMERGENCY AUTHORIZATIONS, POWER OUTAGES, AND THE CREATION OF AN ENHANCED INFRASTRUCTURE FINANCING DISTRICT ON TREASURE ISLAND

Link To Resolution

President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. Approves Emergency Declaration for California

RESOLUTION REGARDING EMERGENCY AUTHORIZATIONS AND POWER OUTAGES ON TREASURE ISLAND

Advancing Environmental Justice: Proposed Framework and General Plan Policies for a Sustainable Future

The seventh policy priority and strategy for achieving clean and healthy environments in San Francisco is to ensure reliable electricity for all residents. To achieve this, several actions must be taken.

First, there is a need to establish provisions for mandatory electric grid safety plans from TIDA (Treasure Island Development Authority) developers and contractors, with community oversight. This is critical to ensuring that any construction work does not compromise the safety of the electric grid.

Secondly, it is important to establish a website that publicly lists all unplanned and planned power outages by neighborhood in San Francisco, going back 25 years and continuing into the foreseeable future. This information can be used by residents and businesses to plan ahead and minimize the impact of power outages.

Thirdly, there is a need to establish a program to study the neighborhoods with the highest amount of outages and give them power and funding to direct all local agencies to upgrade the grid to mitigate outages based on current best practices. By providing power and funding to the affected neighborhoods, they can work collaboratively with local agencies to identify the best ways to upgrade the grid and minimize the number of outages.

By implementing these strategies, San Francisco can achieve reliable electricity for all residents, which is a critical component of a clean and healthy environment.

Priority Policy 3: City provides reliable, affordable, resilient energy service for all of SF.

Strategy 3.0: Increase grid stability to mitigate power outages from all hazard events.

Strategy 3.1: City to conduct a vulnerability and consequences study to ensure reliable and equitable energy service for all residents, especially EJ Communities.

Strategy 3.3 Implement strategies from energy VCA.

Strategy 3.4: Ensure an equitable drawdown of the gas network through robust subsidies and protections for equity communities

Treasure Island and Yerba Buena Island Electric System Addressing Blackouts and System Reliability Update December 2021

Background

The Treasure Island Development Authority (TIDA) owns the electric system infrastructure on Treasure and Yerba Buena

Islands. The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) operates and maintains the power system for TIDA, and

also provides electricity to residents and businesses on both islands.

The U.S. Navy transferred the electric system on Treasure and Yerba Buena Islands to TIDA in 1997. The existing

infrastructure is old and has exceeded normal life expectancy. The age of the system and condition of the equipment make the island more vulnerable to power outages.

Power outages arise when something interrupts the distribution of electricity through the system. These "faults" can result from a variety of causes, including fallen tree limbs, birds or other wildlife, and malfunctioning equipment.

Improving System Reliability

Near-term improvements have been completed in the past several months to improve the the reliability of the electric system.

New Switchyard and Switchgear: Constructed a new switchyard and installed a new switchgear to isolate certain fault events and prevent an island-wide outage.

New Fault Indicators and Reclosers: Installed numerous fault indicators and reclosers throughout the island, which assist crews in determining the location of a fault and limiting outages to just a portion of the system.

New Overhead Line: Installed and constructed a new overhead line from the switchyard, increasing the reliability of the main line serving both islands.

New Transformers: Replaced five old distribution transformers with new ones equipped with bird guards to prevent avian-related outages. Bird guards will be a standard component on all new transformers.

Bird Guards: Installed bird guards along Avenue l.

Vegetation Management: Removed palm trees to prevent palm fronds from falling on overhead lines.

Residential Reliability: Connected the residential neighborhood to its own circuit to mitigate the impact of faults from other parts of the island.

Relay Settings Updated: Adjusted the relays at the Port of Oakland Substation to allow the circuits and reclosers to better isolate a fault before it results in a system-wide outage

Above Ground System-Wide Inspection: Completed inspection of the entire distribution system and identified components to be replaced.

More Electric System Improvements Are Needed

Replacement of Damaged Crossarms and Transformers: A contract has been signed with an electrical contractor to replace the damaged crossarms and transformers identified during the system-wide inspection.

Continuous Inspections: Perform continuous inspections to mitigate potential system failures, including regular

Security Fencing: Install security fencing to protect the underground cables from Treasure Island to Yerba Buena Island from vandalism.

Protective Device: Monitor the protective device response and performance to further mitigate system-wide outages.

Tree trimming or removal

Questions?

Contact:

San Francisco Public Utilities Commission at:

(415) 554-3233 or email Peter Gallotta at pgallotta@sfwater.org

Treasure Island Development Authority at:

(415) 274-0660 or email TIDA@SFgov.org

Treasure Island and Yerba Buena Island Electric System Improvements Improvements Will Reduce Blackouts and Enhance System Reliability

The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) is the energy provider on Treasure Island and Yerba Buena Island. The Treasure Island Development Authority (TIDA) owns the electric infrastructure, which the SFPUC uses to deliver power to residents and businesses on both islands.

Typically, electric infrastructure has a lifespan of 25-30 years. The infrastructure on Treasure Island and Yerba Buena Island, which TIDA inherited from the U.S. Navy, ranges from 40-50 years in age. The age of the system and condition of the equipment make the island vulnerable to power outages that a more modern system would not experience or which would be limited to a smaller area.

Power outages on the island arise when something interrupts the distribution of electricity through the system. These “faults” can arise from a variety of causes, including fallen tree limbs, birds or other wildlife, and malfunctioning equipment.

Several improvements have been made in the past 18 months to improve the system reliability and more are scheduled for the year ahead.

These near term infrastructure investments will enhance system reliability, decrease the number of blackouts, and reduce the duration and number of customers affected when there is a power outage.

TIDA and the SFPUC have been pursuing four avenues to improve system reliability – preventing faults that could lead to an outage, improving the ability of the system to minimize the impact of a fault, limiting any resulting outages

to only a portion of the island rather than the full island, and installing equipment that will help locate where a fault has occurred to speed system restoration.

In 2020 the SFPUC installed fault indicators and reclosers at many locations in the island distribution system. Fault indicators assist crews in determining where in the system a fault has occurred speeding power restoration while reclosers can both help the system to avoid service interruptions following certain minor faults and to limit outages to just a portion of the system when a fault occurs.

Also in 2020, Treasure Island Community Development (TICD), the master developer for Treasure Island, and the SFPUC began constructing a new switchyard and installing new switchgear to serve Treasure Island. This switchgear is scheduled to be energized in the last week of April. The former Navy switchgear is sensitive to system faults and does not effectively separate the existing system into geographically separate circuits. After additional work, the new switchgear will be capable of surviving certain faults that would cause the existing switchgear to fail resulting in an island-wide outage and will support the separation of the island geographically into separate circuits so that outages should be limited to the area served by an individual circuit rather than resulting in island-wide outages.

In addition to the projects initiated in 2020, TIDA and the SFPUC have identified additional priorities for improving system reliability in 2021. The table below describes the projects initiated and completed over the past year and additional improvements that are being planned and designed for implementation this year. TIDA and the SFPUC continue to evaluate additional opportunities for improving the resiliency and reliability of the electrical system on Treasure Island.

Outages in 2021

The work done in 2020 has had some success in limiting the geographic extent of outages. There have been three island-wide outages in 2021 – on April 6th, 11th & 16th – but there have been five other incidents where the extent of the outage was limited to just a portion of the island.

Questions?

Contact:

San Francisco Public Utilities Commission at:

(415) 554-3233 or email peter.gallotta@SFWater.org

Treasure Island Development Authority at:

(415) 274-0660 or email TIDA@SFgov.org

Portable Backup Batteries For Households

Update On Solutions To Power Outages.

Providing One Portable Back Up Battery(https://power.tenergy.com/tenergy-t320-portable-power-station-300wh-backup-lithium-battery/) to each household would cost in excess of $100,000.

Supplying them only to the Island’s affordable housing residents, would cost in excess of $50,000. No determination has been made yet of how much funding TIDA(https://sftreasureisland.org/contact) may be able to commit to such a program.

TIDA is weighing this potential expense against the cost of planned and proposed investments intended to limit the number and/or extent of outages. For example, TIDA already authorized the SFPUC to order several transformers to replace existing transformers in the residential neighborhood which should be delivered and installed by the end of June, and TIDA is working with the SFPUC and the developer on engineering solutions to further isolate the residential neighborhood from the rest of the island grid. Both of last week’s outages were related to issues south of 9th Street.

TIDA is striving to protect the residential area from system problems that are not directly within the limits of the residential area so that the residents will not lose power in events like those of the 6th and 11th. The second challenge that we are investigating is how logistically any purchase/distribution might be made. There are limitations on TIDA’s (or any public agency’s) ability to spend public funds to directly purchase items and give them away. TIDA is investigating options for how we might execute a program if/when we move forward.

We overall are seeing if partnership with One Treasure Island , TIDA will allow them to fund these back-up batteries for our community, If the government is unable to help then we will work with private partners to raise money donate these directly to households!

Test Mobile Solar Battery Trailer Provided By Footprintproject.org Is On Treasure Island

At the TIDA Board Meeting on November 18th, 2020, the board discussed and approved a solution to have a mobile trailer with backup batteries to support the community. A video link to the meeting is available at https://youtu.be/WHIaUuiRo40. The non-profit organization Footprint Project was quick to provide the trailer to aid our community. The next steps include working with TIDA to set up a permanent storage location on the island and signing a rental agreement. Additionally, Footprint Project has generously allowed us to use the trailer for free when it is not in use at other communities.

Back Up Battery Request Form, In Collaboration With People Power Solar Cooperative

If you are interested in sharing back up batteries right now in  collaboration with Crystal Huang People Power Solar Cooperative

More information here about this solution.

https://www.peoplepowersolar.org/

https://youtu.be/vjehIpaJgcA

• Fill out this Google Form—-> https://www.tinyurl.com/batteryrequestTi ,

  We will have to go through each request and make sure whomever comes through this understands our community agreement.

• Join our Slack space! https://.join.slack.com/t/communityback-kdw2304/shared_invite/zt-it11j96u-HjQFe8d394NnLiCFrvKU7w Since the 3 batteries are currently with Matt J (2 batteries) and Crystal (1 battery), we should make sure Matt and Crystal are in the #babysitter channel. Anyone who needs battery should ping #babysitters on Slack. This will help us remove a centralized person as a gatekeeper, so we can all self-organize. Anyone who joins our Slack space should be verified people (anyone in this group can invite people, as long as you know them well to protect our community from trolls).

• Text BATTERY to the number 510-275-1111 in the flyer shared in the email below.

Treasure Island Power Infrastructure Update !

Electric System Improvements Coming to Treasure Island and Yerba Buena Island Improvements Will Reduce Blackouts and Enhance System Reliability Background: The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) is the energy provider on Treasure Island and Yerba Buena Island.

The Treasure Island Development Authority (TIDA) owns the electric infrastructure, which the SFPUC uses to deliver power to residents and businesses on both islands. Typically, electric infrastructure has a lifespan of 25-30 years.

The infrastructure on Treasure Island and Yerba Buena Island, which TIDA inherited from the U.S. Navy, ranges from 40-50 years in age. Because the Treasure Island infrastructure is old, diagnostic and repair work takes longer than it would for a typical power outage. Power outages on the island stem from a variety of causes, including fallen tree limbs, birds or other wildlife, and malfunctioning equipment due to the age of the system. Improving System Reliability and Response:

Treasure Island Community Development (TICD) is the master developer for Treasure Island and coordinates with TIDA on its design and construction activities. Together, TICD and the SFPUC have begun making electric system changes on Treasure Island to improve electricity service for all customers. The major improvements include constructing a new switchyard and installing new switchgear.

These near term infrastructure investments will enhance system reliability, decrease the number of blackouts, and reduce the duration and number of customers affected when there is a power outage. TICD will oversee construction of the switchyard, a fenced-off area where the main electrical equipment will be located. Upon completion of the new switchyard, the SFPUC will install new switchgear, which is equipment that helps detect an outage, isolate the affected area, and provide safe and reliable operation of the electric system. Proactive Steps to Improve Existing System: In addition to new infrastructure, the SFPUC continues to take proactive steps to maintain, operate, and repair the electric system on

Treasure Island and Yerba Buena Island. These actions will help reduce the number of outages as well as the length of outages:

● Proactively trimming tree branches and other vegetation

● Replacing poles and ordering spare parts in advance

● Conducting regular inspections of the distribution system

● Installing reclosers to improve system resiliency

● Installing fault indicators to speed up repair time

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPyiar_H1WA - explains re-closer" equipment

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2S8gAMUNV_4 - explains "fault indicator

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Q-aVBv7PWM - explains substation and how this switch upgrade will also improve the grid.

Electric System Improvements and Timeline: Infrastructure upgrades and equipment replacement are underway, and Treasure Island and Yerba Buena Island customers can expect electric system improvements to be completed by January 2021. Please see attached flyer for table with information on forthcoming improvement projects. Residents and businesses can expect minimal disruption during construction. No roads will be blocked or closed during construction. Questions? Contact: San Francisco Public Utilities Commission at: (415) 554-3233 or email peter.gallotta@SFWater.org

Emergency Declaration

As of November 10th ———————————

November Outage Sparks A Response

Since Tuesday, Treasure Island has experienced long periods of power outages due to an equipment failure at the Port of Oakland, where the Island’s power is routed from. All residents and businesses are severely impacted.

Since then, backup generators have been providing power. Last night at midnight, the generators failed and residents have been without power since midnight. City agencies have formed an emergency coordination team to provide interim and long term solutions to this incident.

The following actions are being taken:

1. Emergency Mutual Aid has been requested to state and regional partners to provide replacement parts as soon as possible

2. Emergency backup crews are en route from Modesto to the Port of Oakland to fix the underlying cause

3. PUC is simultaneously attempting to repair the broken generator and awaiting delivery of a backup generator

4. TIDA is setting up community charging stations near residential areas

Fuel Shortage for Residents

Treasure and Yerba Buena islands lost power from Davis Substation, a Port of Oakland asset, about 2:30PM yesterday. The islands went on generator power while electricians continue to troubleshoot the needed repairs. The generators run off of diesel fuel. To conserve fuel, generators were shut down last night between 12-5AM. Generators were restarted at 5AM as planned. The Generator at YBI has sufficient fuel; however, the generator at Treasure Island has insufficient fuel for continuous power. TI will experience another outage this morning and power will remain out until refueling is concluded. We are unable to refuel the generators until sometime after 10:30AM. Notifications are going out to keep people informed. Lineworkers are narrowing in on the remaining problem with the electrical grid. We will continue to keep you updated.

TIDA Working to Modify Gymnasium

I can let you know that TIDA is currently in the process of working to modify Treasure Island Gymnasium with secondary electrical service connections so that it’s electrical service can be switched from grid power to a back-up generator, which will allow for the City to stand-up the Gymnasium as a respite location for residents during an extended on-Island power outage, even if there is a short or other damage inside the TI Distribution System itself (which is the limiting factor when considering Island-wide redundancy during an outage).  

This temporary service to the Gym would be provided by a generator in order to assure any necessary length of run time and use of the building for larger loads (such as portable heaters and charging of powered medical devices).   We would need to make sure that there’s consistent energy transmission into the building in such an event, and a fueled generator assures that reliability if the outage is of extended duration.

As you can imagine, standing up such a support facility can take up to several hours, considering the City’s mustering of staff, equipment and supplies necessary to activate such a resource at TI Gym.  An extended on-Island outage, such as last Presidents Day, when we know there is going to be a multi-hour outage period, is the scenario for this Gym activation, as opposed to some of our more standard outages causes, such as damaged equipment, which are usually resolved in a few hours time.   Nonetheless, we do see it as another step in improvement and supporting the Island community during such power outage incidents.

We will be keeping the community posted on this work over the next several months, and we are already engaged with the City’s Dept of Public Health and Human Services Agency in analyzing and understanding the various loads associated with powered-medical devices, as assuring a location for redundant charging of residents medical-devices during an extended on-Island outages is a primary focus of such a respite facility.  Your comment/suggestion about the cell sites is a good one as well, we will be reaching out to the cellular carriers with on-Island cell sites to understand what their existing back-up capacity is, and advocating for them to consider improvements or upgrades to add or extend their existing back-up power for this infrastructure.  

 TIDA will also be distributing a message to the community today regarding our resiliency with regards to PG&E PSPS; the good news with regards to that is as PSPS impacts transmission from off-Island, we will respond to any PSPS impacts to the Island in the East Bay by activating the on-Island primary generators which will power the entire TI/YBI Distribution System and assure the Island remains energized.

Lastly, PUC asked me to clarify for you their prior statement in your communications with Emily Lam regarding their experience and prior projects with Tesla.  It turns out PUC and TIDA have worked together on the San Francisco mainland on charging stations, not utility-grid-level installations or projects.  Apologies for any confusion on that.  As I pointed out, the White Paper discusses the limitations on PV/battery back-up at a grid-level when applying the concept to the Island grid. 

 Context Peter Summerville Treasure Island Development Authority (415) 274-0665 for more info Peter.Summerville@sfgov.org

White Paper Provides Answers

SF PUC white paper discussing the concept of photovoltaic systems for energy collection/transmission, as well as battery backup adaptation of PV system, applied at both a grid level and an individual facility level.

What we have learned from this white paper, when applied specifically to the TI/YBI Distribution System, is that a PV/battery system at a grid level would unfortunately not allow for additional reliability or redundancy Island-wide as the causes of unplanned all-Island power outages are on the Distribution System (equipment failures, bird strikes of HV lines, weather damage to HV lines/poles, etc).  As these causes are not tied to transmission into the TI/YBI Distribution System, a grid-level PV/battery system intended to provide a backup source of electric transmission into the Distribution System would still be rendered moot on a shorted Distribution System.  The Island does have two primary on-Island generators that provide alternate transmission into the Distribution System when there is a transmission-level interruption from the primary transmission source at the Port of Oakland, most recently these generators served that purpose this past August during daylong maintenance work at Port of Oakland.  These generators also do not function to provide alternate resiliency to the Island Distribution if the outage cause is on the Distribution System itself.     (This above statement should be considered mostly false as this is what just happened on November 5th batteries and solar would stop the following form happening!)

“ Treasure and Yerba Buena islands lost power from Davis Substation, a Port of Oakland asset, about 2:30PM yesterday. The islands went on generator power while electricians continue to troubleshoot the needed repairs. The generators run off of diesel fuel. To conserve fuel, generators were shut down last night between 12-5AM. Generators were restarted at 5AM as planned. The Generator at YBI has sufficient fuel; however, the generator at Treasure Island has insufficient fuel for continuous power. TI will experience another outage this morning and power will remain out until refueling is concluded. We are unable to refuel the generators until sometime after 10:30AM. Notifications are going out to keep people informed. Lineworkers are narrowing in on the remaining problem with the electrical grid. We will continue to keep you updated.”

 The white paper also speaks to building-level applicability of combination PV/battery or standalone battery back-up systems, such as the Tesla “Powerwall”.  This is a viable option for individual buildings, and was the general model employed in Puerto Rico to re-energize hospitals and other critical facilities on an emergency basis after Hurricane Maria.  In speaking with SFPUC Power, individual installations of Powerwalls or similar products from other manufacturers can happen in a manner that would not cause adverse impacts on the existing Island grid.

 If Island residents or households are interested in pursuing installation of Powerwall or similar systems to allow additional resiliency for their residence during Island-wide outages, they may contact their residential property manager to begin the process as a requested Modification to Residential Unit.  As with any other proposed Unit Modification, costs would need to be borne by the requesting resident/household and all applicable City project reviews/approvals, including those by Department of Building Inspection related to the building electrical system modifications, must be met, along with any additional requirements or direction issued by the residential property manager.

 Please feel free to let us know if there are any questions at this time, particularly on the White Paper contents, as TIDA and PUC are happy to discuss further.

 Thank you.

Peter Summerville Treasure Island Development Authority Peter.Summerville@sfgov.org

Response from Matt Haneys Office

“in response to the website and inquiry from Barklee, we’ve asked PUC Power to put together a White Paper on the potential applicability of micro-grid technology in supporting the Island during service interruptions.  Considering the existing Island distribution system and the number of currently occupied buildings on-Island.

The Puerto Rico model was installation of backup batteries at a series of individual critical facilities.  The residents proposal seems to be more of an all-encompassing “master battery power source” to stand the entire Island grid back up during an on-Island unplanned outage.    

Will definitely share the PUCs analysis with you once it’s completed, and I imagine we’ll share it with the community and interested residents as well.”